VICE chancellors, scholars, nurses from different spheres, friends and colleagues, last week celebrated the retirement of Professor Funmilayo Okanlawon, one of the foremost and longest-serving male nurse trainers and professor at the department of nursing at the University of Ibadan (UI).
The occasion was graced by Professor Omolola Irinoye, the Vice Chancellor of Achievers University; Professor Abel Olorunnisola of Dominion University and the Vice Chancellor of Chrisland University, Professor Chinedum Babalola, Mrs Mubo Obasa, a nurse and retired permanent secretary and directors of nursing services from ministries of health in Oyo and Lagos states, among others.
The vice chancellor of UI, Professor Kayode Adebowale, speaking at the valedictory programme, said Professor Okanlawon’s administrative responsibilities and community services span various domains, showcasing his commitment to both academia and societal welfare.
Adebowale, represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Professor Aderinke Baiyeroju, added, “His [Okanlawon] dedication to academic mentorship is evidence in his extensive supervision of Ph.D and M.Sc. students; moreover, as a community man, his commitment to community service is exemplified through initiatives such as training school adolescents as peer educators on health topics and organising workshops to empower community leaders in disseminating health information.”
In the valedictory lecture entitled ‘Navigating a Dynamic and Turbulent Community: The Sustained Caring Options of a Nurse Academic,’ the acting director of the Nursing Department at the University of Ilorin, Dr Emmanuel Anyebe, said intellectual resilience and political and cultural competencies are qualities that Professor Okanlawon adopted in navigating his 30 years of service at the university.
Dr Anyebe stated that Nigeria should adopt the collaborative academic-clinician model to ensure that nurse tutors are not restricted to the classroom but could also directly impart patients’s lives in the hospital.
“The way we run the clinical partnership for the training of doctors, such that the doctor who is teaching the students in the ward is also the lecturer, should be the same for nurses. So, people in Professor Okanlawon’s category who lecture in classrooms would also be able to go to the ward to teach.
“That way, we will be able to bring theory and practice together as one; if the two are not balanced, we are going to have squid knowledge, attitude and practice.
“Related to that is inter-professional education and existence, such that in the College of Health Sciences at the University of Ilorin, students of the different medical professions are mixed to engender team spirit right from training.”
On the occasion, Professor Abel Olurunsola and the other speakers described Professor Okanlawon as a humble and selfless man with tenacity of character who is committed to the welfare of others and the nursing profession.